Frequently Ask Questions

The VUI informs foreign investors about the requirements, procedures and processes necessary to make investments in different economic sectors and subsectors of Colombia.

It is aimed at national and foreign investors, companies in the process of expansion, chambers of commerce, business associations and entities that seek to develop projects with economic, social and environmental impact in Colombia.

Address: Cl 28 # 13A - 15, Bogotá, Colombia Switchboard telephone: (+57) 601 606 7676 Toll-free number: 01-8000 944 570 Email: info@mincit.gov.co, contactovui@mincit.gov.co, notificacionesjudiciales@mincit.gov.co Customer service hours: Monday to Friday from 7:00 to 18:00 (COT).

Colombia stands out as the gateway to Latin America: a country with stable economic growth, a strategic location, and a robust network of trade agreements. Its human talent, natural wealth, and commitment to sustainability make it an ideal destination for long-term, high-impact investments.

These are some of the benefits: A. Remitting the net profits from your investment. B. Remitting abroad in freely convertible currency the sums received from the sale of the investment within the country, or from the liquidation of the company or the reduction of its capital. C. As an investor, you enjoy equal treatment; therefore, foreign capital investment in Colombia will be treated in all respects the same as investment by resident nationals.

Each project involves various public or private entities. Please consult the downloadable project sheet for the project of your interest.
For more information, visit: https://vui.gov.co/es/proyectos-de-inversion

Please consult the updated regulations through the Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República), especially Decree 119 of 2017.
For more information, visit:
https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/normatividad-banco

You are not required to reside in the country in order to make a foreign capital investment in Colombia; however, please keep in mind the following:

1. Designate a legal representative in Colombia.
2. Register your initial investment.
3. Keep the information and documents that support the conditions of the registered investment.
4. Comply with tax, accounting, labor, commercial, and other applicable regulations.

Depending on the procedure you wish to carry out, Colombia has various entities that support the process of business formalization and the start of operations. You can find the involved entities in alphabetical order through the Ventanilla Única de Inversión (VUI): https://vui.gov.co/es/entidades-participantes

Fiscal or tax incentives are special tax treatments available to certain types of companies, investors and/or taxpayers. Their main objective is to promote the arrival of investment projects in the country, as well as to provide facilities for national investment projects.

Tariff incentives are measures to support imports. Among them are the free trade zone regime and the Vallejo Plan, among others. These systems offer incentives such as tariff and VAT reductions or exemptions for the import of raw materials, equipment and machinery to be used in projects for the production of goods or services mainly destined for foreign markets in the case of the Vallejo Plan, while products or services from free trade zones may be entirely destined for the domestic market.

These tax incentives promote investments in science, technology, and innovation (STI), in creative and technological industries (orange economy), as well as in other sectors of the economy - agribusiness, automotive and metalworking, hospitality and tourism, logistics, real estate, energy, and chemicals and life sciences.

For more details on the legal and tax incentives offered by the country, please visit the Invest in Colombia page - at the following link: https://investincolombia.com.co/es/como-invertir/incentivos-para-invertir-en-colombia/incentivos-tributarios

For more details on the incentives offered by the country for the installation and operation of Free Trade Zones, please visit the Invest in Colombia page - at the following link: https://investincolombia.com.co/es/regimen-de-zonas-francas-en-colombia

No. Foreign investment in Colombia receives the same treatment as domestic investment. No special treatment or the imposition of discriminatory or more favorable conditions to foreign investors is allowed.

To date, Colombia has 17 trade agreements, including free trade agreements and partial scope agreements: CAN (1973, 1994), Panama and Chile (1993), Caricom and Mexico (1995), Cuba (2001), Mercosur (2005), Northern Triangle (2009), EFTA and Canada (2011), USA and Venezuela (2012), European Union (2013) and Korea, Costa Rica, Pacific Alliance (2016) and Israel (2020) (Graph 2). Trade agreements give investors access to a market of more than 1.5 billion consumers.

Due to its privileged geographical location and the network of treaties, Colombia has the advantage of facilitating maritime and air logistics for access to markets in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, making the country a destination that favors foreign and domestic investment.

You can find this information in the Procolombia services directory. Visit: https://investincolombia.com.co/es/articulos-y-herramientas/herramientas/directorio-servicios-de-inversion

To formalize an investment in Colombia, you must:

A. Register the investment with the Bank of the Republic.
B. Follow the formalization steps found in the VUI, visit: https://vui.gov.co/es/portafolio-de-tramites/creacion-de-empresa

If the investment is registered with the Central Bank, or if it benefits from a Free Trade Agreement or international investment agreement, you can transfer your profits.

The Single Window for Investment (VUI) is a comprehensive platform of the Colombian government that supports and facilitates investment processes in the country. It centralizes information, procedures, and inter-institutional coordination to offer an efficient, transparent, and reliable experience to both domestic and foreign investors.

Its purpose is to promote productive investment in Colombia, reducing time and costs through a unified system that connects investors with the relevant public entities, thus strengthening the business climate and the country's competitiveness.